1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spiral staircase and handrail assemblies, and more particularly, to systems and methods used for installing such assemblies.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
Spiral staircase designs are well known in the art. For safety reasons, virtually all spiral staircase designs include accompanying handrails. While continuous lengths of metal are often preferred for handrails due to aesthetic considerations, it has been found difficult to utilize such because precision support pieces are routinely required for proper alignment of the rail above the treads of the staircase. To that end, a wide variety of devices have been introduced for securing the handrail to the treads of the staircase by balusters or posts, but the majority of these devices are difficult to work with because they require precise forming and positioning of not only the handrail but also of the support and attachment mechanisms for the handrail. The alternative to this can be to form screw bores and the like in the pieces on site when installing the staircase and handrail. However, even in such cases, proper installation and fitting of the handrail can be found to be difficult and time-consuming processes. Furthermore, such attachment mechanisms are often found to be quite complex and expensive.
An additional problem with handrails for spiral staircases of the prior art is that the sides of the rail can be bendable to a fault if too long and quite rigid if too short. As such, when using such extreme lengths, the materials that can be used can be limited. For example, it is not uncommon when attempting to form curvature in a lengthy handrail, so as to align it with a spiral staircase, to end up with one or more undesirable bends over its extent. To address this, in some designs, handrails have been conventionally formed of multiple pieces. However, such designs can still be found to complicate matters as the separate pieces, in light of their shortened length, are more difficult to bend with the requisite curvature.
The present invention solves these and other problems.